The twelve year marriage of Henry and Katharine has declined from an idyllic union into an uneasy stalemate. The King's love for his aging Queen has grown cold, and he is angry with her failure to give him the heir to the throne he desperately wants. When the seductive Anne Boleyn arrives at court, the King is captivated by her dark beauty and bold spirit, and becomes obsessed with his desire to possess her.

With his chief advisor, Cardinal Wolsey, the King devises a secret plot to declare the marriage with Katharine null and void. But Katharine refuses to surrender to his wishes and fights desperately to retain her title and safeguard her daughter, Mary.

The ensuing power struggle is one of the turning points in English history.